I have hesitated making this post but I so wanted to explain things during the contest so I will just get them out. This was a more annoying contest for me to sit through because I couldn't post a guide for anyone on how to use this deck. Honestly I like the grixis version a bit better but I think they both suffer a bit from lack of power. I plan on posting a brew thread but I don't blame anyone for not wanting to play it, I only did half the decks and I was pretty much done. I don't have the tenacity to play 11 decks and write reviews. Amazing job to everyone that pulled that off.

There is a fair amount of "hidden tech" in the deck with the coolest thing you can do is play skysovereign at instant speed post declaring attackers using whir, removing a 3 or < toughness threat and crew/blocking with skyship achieving a 2 for 1. Assuming you have a way to crew it and down, most of the time it's possible as early as turn 4 but more likely turn 5. Vice versa is also possible if you could play skysov or aethersphere but need a pilot you can whir mid combat grabbing scrapy or the dockhand and crew. You can really abuse key here and nothing wrong using whir to get key if it's not out in a grindhouse match. Improvise tapping, Whirler rogue tapping it, key for the most part in this deck should read pay 2 to draw a card at your upkeep you don't have to discard and of course key is 1 mana in an improvise deck. Bastion is The beatstick here. Goggled up 5/6 hexproof is nothing to sneeze at, with a squad behind him and armed with a sigil or 2 it gets gross quick.

Round 2!The whirl of whirlers whirlingAnother deck very light on lands, although I understand here because it's trying to abuse Improvise. The payoff looks weak, though. Expertise looks weird, and I wonder if it needs more early removal.

Game 1 (Play vs GC Ramp) - WINHe ramps into oblivion while I play a few Servos. Eventually he plays a gigantic Walker of the Wastes (15/15 or something), but I manage to race thanks to a bunch of life gained through Battle and Harvester.

Game 2 (Draw vs Golgari Midrange) - LOSSI flood (!) while my opponent plays grreat value cards. Eventually I draw some gas, but they are all low impact cards, so I'm basically a sitting duck while he rides a flip Nissa to victory.

Game 4 (Play vs Dimir Artifacts) - WINAnother one that had no way to deal with Inventor + Key, nor could race it.

Game 5 (Draw vs mono Black Control) - WIN.It seems like the only thing this deck does is play Inventor and Key...

Final score: 4-1Well, this went better than expected. I believe the lesson here is that a lot of people aren't prepared to face/race an Inventor. The deck only won against non-meta decks, but still.

The mana felt ok-ish, but I'd still like a couple more. The deck also needs to focus on its main path of victory. Cut things like Baral's Expertise, Skyboat and Tezzeret for more Engineer and maybe some Vials, to ensure that we draw our combo. It probably needs more early interaction to deal with aggro decks, but I never faced one to say anything.

It's a one trick pony, but that specific pony looks good enough.

It's really not a one trick pony but you are right that's a good enough trick. Being able to grab a aethersphere or skysov at instant speed and crew mid combat turn 3 - 5 can really help turn a game around. I agree I was a little too aggressive with land count vs maps. Tezz and Baral's Exp are there for bad matchups aka snake.dec. I found Tez as great removal that I could kill pretty much anything with twice. If he ults in this deck you will win. You can gum up the board with tokens or just go wide or tall and 5 cards give unblockable or a thopter can swing in armed with equips. I won a game testing by equipping goggles on skysov and aethersphere ftw.

I'm on the play and I mull a 1 lander into: Sunken Hollow, Map, Goggles, Key, Scrounger, Rogue, and Reverse Engineer. Knowing the deck's land count, I'm hesitant about going to 6 and finding more lands + playable cards. But this is gonna be one SLOW start vs a rank 40... I keep.T1. We both play land.T2. I top another Map and play one Map. Opp plays land.T3. I top Servo Schematic. I decide to keep pushing mana and crack one map, play the other, and play the goggles. Opp plays land and Chief of the Foundry.T4. I top a land. Kewl. I play Reverse Engineer and draw another land, another Whirler, and a Rebuke. Opp plays land and Treasure Keeper and hits me with his ChiefT5. I top Baral's Exp. I play my land and cast Whirler, free-quiping the goggles. Opp swings with both creatures - I chump Keeper with a thopter, and then plays Trawler.T6. I top my last Whirler. I crack the other Map for a land, play it, and cast Baral's, bouncing his board and freecasting a 2nd Whirler. Then I swing with a thopter and the first Whirler (still equipped). Opp Pushes the Whirler. Opp plays his 6th land and drops Big Chandra, nuking my board. Ouch!T7. I top a land. I decide to play Scrounger and Schematic and keep Key hidden in my hand so that he doesn't nuke with Chandra again. He plusses her and swings with tokens. I chump one with the Servo. Then he drops a land, casts Trawler, and then Keeper. I Rebuke the Keeper.T8. I top land, play Key, discard the land to make Scrappy unblockable and take out Chandra. Then I play Whirler. In hindsight, this was a stupid play - could have just dropped the land, played Key AND Whirler, and tapped Goggles and Key with Whirler to make Scrappy unblockable for net +1 land. Derp. Opp drops Smuggy, Harvester, and Chief. Oof.T9. I pay for Key and top Bastion Inventor and Dockhand. I play them both, equipping Inventor, and then use Whirler to make Scrapheap unblockable and get a hit in. Opp plays Filigree, activates his flyers and swings for 8, but doesn't activate Harvister's lifelink. I'm at 7. He's at 18.T10. I pay for Key (tapped to improvise Bastion) and top Tezz and another Inventor. I play Tezz and nuke his Chief. Trawler has nothing to dig back so that's cool. Then make the same stupid play with Key vs. Whirler and discard the 2nd Inventor to make the first one unblockable. I actually catch my mistake this time - after the fact, but I won't do it again. Opp crews both Vehicles and swings at Tezz with both. He's in topdeck mode and short on pilots so I want to try to keep Tezz alive for one more turn to nuke his Trawler (while he still has nothing to return) so I chump with my 2 thopters. Then he plays Medium Chandra and plusses her. He must not want to lose a pilot either because he burns Tezz for 2 rather than cast the Push he reveals. (I guess Scrounger isn't a tasty target anyway).T11. I top Whir of Invention and Goggles. I cast the Goggles and swing with Scrappy and Bastion, taking out Chandra with Bastion and taking him to 13. He equips and swings at me with Smugg and Tezz with Harvester. I respond by casting Whir for x=5, leaving Dockhand untapped. Flagship burns out Smug, and I crew it with Dockhand and Rogue to block Harvester. He responds by activating Rogue's Passage to make Harvester unblockable, but he forgets to activate his Harvester again.T12. I top 2 lands. I equip Rogue with the other Goggles, use him to crew Flagship, and swing with Flagship, Inventor, and Scrappy. He has no defense and dies.That. Was. Awesome! His deck was slow as poop, but still - 1 lander with the land ETB tapped? Coming back from a board nuke? Staring down pressure from 2 meaty flyers? Yeah!

Game 2 vs Red Rush (40) (AI)

Spoiler

Opp immediately gets swapped with AI.I'm on the play with 2 land, 3 Map, Enthusiast, and Whirler.T1. I play land and Map. Opp plays Inventor's Apprentice.T2. I top Sigil. I play land and 2 Maps. Opp plays Bully and pings me with Apprentice.T3. I top another Whirler. I crack a map for land and play Enthusiast. Opp plays Renegade Freighter and crews it with Bully and then decides not to swing with his 2/3 Apprentices because AI.T4. I top another Enthusiast. I crack another map and play Whirler. Opp play Siege Modification and swings with Bully and Freighter. I shoulda blocked the Bully but let him through. Opp plays Titan's Strength on Freighter and slams me to 4 life. Well played, stupid AI.T5. I need Push if I'm gonna survive to next turn. I get Scrounger. Shrugs. I play Sigil, Scrounger, and equip a Thopter, swinging for 7 just for the hell of it. Opp plays Bomat and swings with all ftw.At least it was quick...

Game 3 vs Bant Goodstuff (35)

Spoiler

You know its gonna be an annoying game when your opponent looks like a Tentacruel...I have 3 lands, Scrounger, Key, Rebuke, and Bastion on the draw.T1. I top Enthusiast. We both drop lands.T2. He plays Primal Druid. I top land and play Scrounger.T3. He plays Eldritch Evo, trading his 0/3 for a land and a Thought-Knot. He peruses my hand for a while and finally settles on Rebuke. I top a land and play Enthusiast.T4. He plays an EW, cracks it, and leaves mana up. I top Whir of Invention, and decide to bait his counter with Key. He Scatters.T5. He plays another EW, and then drops Displacer and Duskwatch Recruiter. I top Goggles, play them, and Whir for 5, getting Flagship and nuking his Displacer. He has one card in hand at the moment - if its land, I might be ok.T6. He plays Rec Sage. Bah! Then he plays flip-Nissa. This guy... flip-Nissa flips and reveals a Gaea's Revenge on her plus. I top another Enthusiast, play Bastion and equip it.T7. He gets another land with Nissa then casts the Eldritch Evolution he just topped to turn his Rec Sage into a Cloudblazer. Nah, I'm done.

Game 4 vs Gruul Aggro (35)

Spoiler

I have 4 lands, 2 Goggles, and a Harvester on the draw. I'm not thrilled, but don't feel good about tossing 4 lands into a mystery hand.T1. Opp plays Bomat and swings. I top land and play Goggles.T2. Opp plays land and swings with Bomat again. I top Bastion and play Goggles.T3. Opp plays land and Hanweir Garrison. Uh oh. I top Battle at the Bridge right on time and nuke Garrison for 4.T4. Opp plays another Garrison. I top Rebuke and play Bastion, double equipping.T5. Opp plays Bomat and swings with all. I kill Garrison. Then Opp plays Voltaic Brawler post combat. I top Whir. I'm worried about his Bomat - it has 5 cards under it and I don't want him cycling his hand bu there isn't much I can do about it. I pass.T6. Opp passes. I top a Push.T7. Opp plays Sage of Shalia's Claim. I top a land and play it. Now I have enough to Whir for Flagship.T8. Opp plays Longtooth Cub. I let it resolve. At Opp's EOT, I Whir Flagship and nuke the Brawler since he still has a mana open to crack his Bomat. This was my first big mistake - shoulda just eaten the Bomat instead.T9. Opp plays Electrostatic Pummeler, tapping out. I Rebuke it and Push the loaded Bomat. I top a land and play it. I think I have the upper hand now, without his big card pile, all I have to do is take out his Cub with Flagship and he'll crumble quick enough. Wrong. He had enough energy to double pump the Cub, completely turning the tables on me.T10. He drops a land and another Sage of Shalia's and swings hard, taking me to 5. Whirler Rogue might let me stabilize, but otherwise I'm in bad shape. I top... 2nd Harvester.T11. He swings with all. I chump his 6/6 cub with Harvester, linking enough life to last one more turn. I top... Land!Mia Culpa. I botched that one bad. Shuffler wasn't very cooperative either, but still... Really, I should have gotten Dockhand instead of Flagship (how often can you say THAT?). Would have had crew for the Harvester and some desperately needed draw/filter. Oh well.

Game 5 vs Boros Improvised Aggro (38)

Spoiler

I'm on the draw with 3 land, Scrounger, Key, Whirler, and Bastion.T1. Opp plays land. I top Baral's and drop a land.T2. Opp plays Relic Seeker. I top Goggles and play Scrounger.T3. Opp plays Lupine Prototype and Goggles and swings with Seeker, fetching a Bonesaw and playing it. I top Rebuke, play Goggles and Key and swing with Scrounger.T4. Opp plays Aether Chaser, equipping with Goggles and Bonesaw, equipping Seeker and swings with Seeker. I top Harvester and play it.T5. Opp plays Sweatworks Brawler and attempts to cast Slayer's Plate. I Rebuke the Plate. Opp equips Saws on Chaser and swings for 5. I take it. I top Tezz and cast Bastion, equipping the Goggles. Still at 3 land and pretty sure I'm dead meat.T6. Opp equips Sweatworks with Goggles and both Saws and swings. I block with Harvester and Bastion (menace) and gain life but trade Bastion for his Brawler. I draw off of the Key that I had tapped to play Bastion and finally get a land which I drop along with another Bastion.T7. Opp equips Prototype and swings for big damage. I top Rebuke and play Whirler.T8. Opp plays Smug and swings with Prototype. I chump it. I top Sigil and play Tezz, nuking his Chaser.T9. Opp Firecrafts Chaser, crews Smug and equips it with Goggles and a saw and then swings with 5/5 Smug and 6/5 Prototype. I'm low on life so I have to block both. I decide to keep the thopter token alive to block the flyer next round and use Harvester on Smug and Whirler on Lupine. Opp makes a critical error and moves Goggles off of Smug post combat, causing it to die. I top a land and Baral's, bouncing Seeker, Prototype, and his Goggles and playing Sigil for free.T10. Opp plays out Seeker, Prototype, and Goggles. I top land and play Bastion, equipping Goggles.T11. Opp plays another Sweatworks. I Rebuke it, even tho he has mana so that he can't equip any of the stuff he has down and force me to trade off Bastion. I draw off of Key and top another Harvester and Servo Schematics and play Harvester.T12. Opp equips Sweatworks and swings, forcing me to trade (I'm at 2 life). I crew Harvester and activate it for lifelink and block. He's ready with Ride down, tho, killing Harvester and trading Sweat for my Bastion (exact damage - I'm still at 2). I'm pretty sure I'm a goner but then I top Battle at the Bridge! I play the Schematic and then BatB his Prototype for 9 leaving the Servo untapped.T13. Opp gears up his Seeker and swings. I chump. I draw off of Key again and get Whirler Rogue and land. I play both, and Sigil the Scrounger that never died and swing with it for 7.T14. Opp is flooded. He leaves Seeker up as blocker. I use Whirler to tap my Key at his eot and draw 2. I get another Whirler and an Enthusiast. I play the Whirler and make Scrounger unblockable and swing for the win.Whew. I had no business winning that game. My opp prolly coulda steamrolled me if he'd been more aggressive. Him gifting me the Smug was a big boon, too. Still, a win's a win and a win that nearly wasn't is a win with sauce.

5 Game Verdict:Effectiveness: 3/5I'll give it the point for the game that I botched - that one was mine to claim and I didn't. Still, the last game was barely a win so this is barely a 3. It is kind of a combo-ish deck and is very vulnerable to control. It can also get screwed early with the low land count and potential slow starts. Not a top tier deck but it impressed me nonetheless.Theme: 5/5This build pushes the Improvise mechanic hard and well. It also stays in the strict color theme for the challenge. It deserves the perfect 5.Originality: 5/5As stated above, this deck pushes Improvise effectively. It also takes the token theme and tosses in a nifty wrinkle with Sigil. Improvise + Key to the City was fun tech, too. This has been the funnest build for me to play thus far, even if I don't think it is the strongest.Fun Factor:Well, shoot. I kinda already said everything that needed saying already.

Thoughts:Overall, I think this is a very well thought out, focused list. I'd have a hard time recommending any changes aside from maybe swapping a Map or 2 for lands. Westvale Abbey might be worth slotting as a 1-of, since you have the fodder to flip it. TSN feels like it wants to be in the deck, but, honestly, I don't know what I'd cut to fit it in, and with the deck being inherently slow and a tad light on interaction, TSN might just be TOO slow for it.

It was nice to see someone that enjoyed playing my brew and seemed to understand the options it brings to the table. I enjoyed your breakdown of every deck, I think you really can see the gears that work in these decks. Good job winning with sauce, always nice. I thought about TSN but I think that would be card 61 or 62, just couldn't justify putting in unless I pull out Baral's exp (maybe that's what I should have done). I agree adding abbey is smart, I hope to get your input when I eventually post my grixis version. I think it's a bit better because of additional improvise cards.

You get bonus points because you even got the title of the deck right when Giocher didn't.

...and certainly, when you have an unblockable hexproof 11/13 it's even better...

Problem is...you need a lot of things for that to happen: an Inventor, a Whirler, a couple Googles, one or two Seals...and then you attack (alone of course cause Seals...) and opp have BlessAlli and for 2 mana screws your entire game...it happened to me it was horrible, it was with a Hub and took me entirely by surprise...still, I had to attack, so...but I'm digressing

Overall, the plan is fun but too limited and janky and complicated...satisfying when happens but on the inconsistent side. Low land count doesn't help.

That's terrible you got blessed out of no where. Of course that's what rebuke is for but I understand not seeing it coming played off of a hub. In a white matchup I would probably swing with all my tokens and race it up. You don't have to find sigils to beat opponents down, but whir is there to help if you really want it. Wish I could run another copy. Again sorry about putting you guys on 19 lands, I tested 10 games and it seemed to be working but in hindsight that was a bit too optimistic. Will have to recruit you into brewing whatever it is this becomes. That is if your not burnt to a crisp on these ideas.

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The Last Fight Club Champion"If there can be no victory, then I will fight forever."—Koth of the Hammer

I am really straining the mana base here because of the required of Herald. The card is just too good to pass up so i am warping the mana bit. Basically 22 mana sources and 3 maps = 25 ways to get mana +2 fixers in caravans.

I do regret dropping to just 1 whirler but the only other cut I would make is maybe a push and I am usually happy to have a push in hand with multiple ways to trigger revolt in this deck. May switch a push for an extra whirler, the fact she can tap key at will is really nice.

_________________

The Last Fight Club Champion"If there can be no victory, then I will fight forever."—Koth of the Hammer

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